To All,
Good Saturday morning November 25, 2023
Well it is a beautiful morning here in San Diego. Still a lot of turkey for snacks later today. Good Saturday morning breakfast with my good friend Mac to start off the day. I hope you all have a great Saturday and your football team wins today.
Regards,
Skip
This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
November 25
1943 At the Battle of Cape St. George, Destroyer Squadron 23 intercepts five Japanese destroyers attempting to land reinforcements at Buka on Bougainville. During this night engagement, the Japanese destroyers Onami, Makiname, and Yugiri are sunk.
1943 PB4Y-1 aircraft, piloted by Lt. j.g. Vance Dawkins from VB-107, sinks German submarine U-849 in the South Atlantic west of the Congo estuary.
1943 USS Radford (DD 446) sinks Japanese submarine I-19 north of the Gilbert Islands.
1944 USS Hardhead (SS 365) attacks a Japanese convoy 60 miles west of Manila and sinks Coast Defense Vessel No.38 off Bataan Peninsula while USS Atule (SS 403) sinks Japanese freighter Santos Maru off Sabtang Island, Luzon. Also, USS Mingo (SS 261) sinks Japanese army transport Manila Maru.
1961 USS Enterprise (CVAN 65), the U.S. Navy's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is commissioned in Newport News, Va.
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This day in World History 25 November
1863 Union ends the siege of Chattanooga with the Battle of Missionary Ridge.
1876 Colonel Ronald MacKenzie destroys Cheyenne Chief Dull Knife's village, in the Bighorn Mountains near the Red Fork of the Powder River, during the so-called Great Sioux War.
1901 Japanese Prince Ito arrives in Russia to seek concessions in Korea.
1914 German Field Marshal Fredrich von Hindenburg calls off the Lodz offensive 40 miles from Warsaw, Poland. The Russians lose 90,000 to the Germans' 35,000 in two weeks of fighting.
1918 Chile and Peru sever relations.
1921 Hirohito becomes regent of Japan.
1923 Transatlantic broadcasting from England to America commences for the first time.
1930 An earthquake in Shizouka, Japan kills 187 people.
1939 Germany reports four British ships sunk in the North Sea, but London denies the claim.
1946 The U.S. Supreme Court grants the Oregon Indians land payment rights from the U.S. government.
1947 The Big Four meet to discuss the German and European economy.
1951 A truce line between U.N. troops and North Korea is mapped out at the peace talks in Panmunjom, Korea.
1955 The Interstate Commerce Commission bans segregation in interstate travel.
1963 The body of assassinated President John F. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
1964 Eleven nations give a total of $3 billion to rescue the value of the British currency.
1986 As President Ronald Reagan announces the Justice Department's findings concerning the Iran-Contra affair; secretary Fawn Hall smuggles important documents out of Lt. Col. Oliver North's office.
1987 Typhoon Nina sticks the Philippines with 165 mph winds and a devastating storm surge and causes over 1,030 deaths.
1992 Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia votes to partition the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, beginning Jan. 1, 1993.
2008 Sri Lanka is hit by Cyclone Nisha, bringing the highest rainfall the area had seen in 9 decades; 15 people die, 90,000 are left homeless.
2348 Biblical scholars have long asserted this to be the day of the Great Deluge, or Flood.
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OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT Thanks to the Bear
COMMANDO HUNT … WEEK TWO OF THE HUNT… 18-24 NOVEMBER 1968…
Skip… For The List for Monday , 20 November 2023 Through Sunday 26 November… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT (1968-1972)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 18-24 November 1968… Settling in for a four year interdiction campaign to Slow the Flow on "Blood Road"…
Thanks to Micro
To remind folks that these are from the Vietnam Air Losses site that Micro put together. You click on the url below and get what happened each day to the crew of the aircraft. ……Skip
From Vietnam Air Losses site for Saturday November 25
November 25: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2039
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This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip Vietnam Air Losses Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
MOAA - Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Servicemembers Killed in the Vietnam War
The site works, find anyone you knew in "search" feature.
https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/ )
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Thanks to Micro
81 years ago today the Army-Navy Football Game was Played in Annapolis (Ocean City Today): https://www.oceancitytoday.com/column_posts/world_war_ii/army-navy-face-off-in-annapolis/article_002a0ecc-6b50-11ed-9d4e-3786704dc22f.html
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From the Archives
Another superb H-Gram from Admiral Cox and his team from The Naval Historical and Heritage Command. To get a more in-depth and interesting view be sure to select the two attachments at the end of the piece.
H-Gram 038: Battle of Leyte Gulf
25 November 2019
This H-gram covers:
"CRIPDIV 1"—U.S. Carrier Attacks on Okinawa and Formosa, 10–16 October 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf, 23–26 October 1944: U.S. and Japanese Forces The Invasion of Leyte: Honolulu (CL-48) and HMAS Australia Damaged, 20 October 1944 The Battle of Palawan Passage: U.S. Submarines Sink Two Japanese Cruisers, 23–24 October 1944.
Tang (SS-306) Sunk by Own Torpedo, 23–24 October 1944 Greatest U.S. Navy Ace: Commander David McCampbell, 24 October 1944 Princeton (CVL-23) Lost to Japanese Air Attack, 24 October 1944 Battle of the Sibuyan Sea and Loss of Musashi, 24 October 1944 Air Strikes in the Sulu Sea, 24 October 1944 Sinking of "Hell Ship" Arisan Maru—Greatest Loss of U.S. Life at Sea, 24 October 1944 The Battle of Surigao Strait: Last Battleship Versus Battleship Action, 24–25 October 1944 The Battle of Cape Engano: Four Japanese Carriers Sunk, 25 October 1944 First Kamikaze Attacks, 25 October 1944 The Battle off Samar: Taffy 3, 25 October 1944 Halsey's Response to Taffy 3's Plight, 25 October 1944 In H-Gram 036, I described the incredibly heroic action of "Taffy 3" during the Battle off Samar on 25 October 1944 and its relation to the theme "No Higher Honor" that former CNO Admiral Richardson chose for this year's Navy Birthday. I had hoped to get a more complete treatment of the overarching Battle of Leyte Gulf (of which the Battle off Samar was a part) on the wire before the anniversary of the battle, but I got sidetracked by the Battle of Midway movie H-gram and way too many Flag Officer Passing Notes (and the fact I actually have a day job). H-Gram 036 may be reviewed here.
As an update to the H-gram on Samar, the private research vessel Petrel (with which Naval History and Heritage Command has a strong collaborative relationship) announced late last month that they found the wreck of USS Johnston (DD-557) off Samar. Earlier this year, when I was aboard Petrel on the search for USS Wasp (CV-7), Petrel's mission director, Rob Kraft, asked me what ship I would want to find the most. My answer was Johnston, and the rest of Taffy 3, because in my view the actions of Commander Ernest Evans and the crew of Johnston were arguably the most heroic in the history of the U.S. Navy (although there are numerous worthy contenders).
I believe Petrel is probably correct in the identification as Johnston, but the ship essentially disintegrated on the way to the bottom (at 20,400 feet, the deepest shipwreck ever found), and distinguishing between Fletcher-class destroyers Johnston and Hoel (DD-533) is extremely difficult. By position, the wreck is a better match for Johnston, but there are some features in the debris that were known to be on Hoel and only possibly on Johnston. So, NHHC's underwater archaeologists aren't prepared to make a definitive identification quite yet. In a way, I find the ambiguity fitting, as the valor displayed by the crew of Hoel in this action met the definition of "above and beyond the call of duty," too. Also, based on Petrel's search off Samar, Gambier Bay (CVE-73), Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413), and one of the two Fletchers (Johnston or Hoel) are in even deeper water, which exceeds even Petrel's capability.
In this H-gram, I feature the work of one of NHHC's great professional historians, Martin Waldman, who provides an excellent overview of the battle (which, given its scope and complexity, still comes in at 26 pages when printed out.) Please see Marty's work here.
My piece will focus more on valor and command decisions, with intent to be relatively short, although I will probably fail in that, too. I also include two items generally not mentioned in histories of Leyte Gulf, but that are related. One is the loss of USS Tang (SS-306) near Formosa while attacking a Japanese Leyte-bound convoy on the night of 23–24 October 1944. Tang was by some measures the most successful U.S. submarine of the war, and her skipper, the legendary Dick O'Kane, who as commanding officer of Tang and executive officer of Wahoo (SS-238—under the legendary "Mush" Morton), had a hand in sinking more ships than any other U.S. submarine officer. Ironically and tragically, Tang was sunk by her own circular-running torpedo (the last of 24 fired in a war patrol that earned O'Kane the Medal of Honor). Only nine of her crew, including O'Kane, survived to be captured by the Japanese. Five of the survivors made the only known successful ascent from a sunken submarine using the Momsen Lung (several others from Tang made a successful ascent, but were not rescued).
The other item is the great tragedy of Arisan Maru, which was torpedoed and sunk by a U.S. submarine (probably Shark—SS-314), which resulted in the loss of 1,781 prisoners of war (almost all American), who were being transported in hellish conditions from POW camps in the Philippines to Formosa and then to Japan and Japanese-occupied China. Almost all the U.S. POWs survived the sinking, but none was rescued by the Japanese (who did rescue most of Arisan Maru's crew.) Ultimately, only nine U.S. POWs survived. This was the greatest U.S. loss of life at sea (exceeding that of MT Rohna—see H-Gram 022—to which I should have caveated "due to enemy action"; I originally noted that Rohna was the greatest loss of U.S. military life at sea). Shark was sunk by the convoy's escorts and lost with all hands shortly thereafter.
Both Vice Admiral Kurita and Admiral Halsey would come in for intense criticism over the years for their actions during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. As a former flag officer myself, I may have more sympathy than historians, knowing what it is like to make rapid decisions with incomplete (or even deceptive) information and then be second-guessed by omniscient after-the-fact knowledge. Whatever Halsey's faults during the battle (and even then he only did what decades of doctrine and training expected: aggressive attack on the enemy fleet), he deserves a great deal of credit for the success of the battle. His recommendation to accelerate the invasion of Leyte caught the Japanese before they were ready, and his brilliantly executed attacks on Okinawa and Formosa cost the Japanese critical air assets that might have made the Leyte landings far more costly.
For his part, Kurita has gone down in history as having snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, thanks to the heroic fight put up by Taffy 3. In reality, had he gotten into Leyte Gulf, he might have sunk 20 or so transports (since most of the 200 that had been there at the start of the landings were already gone). It would have been ugly, but would not have changed the outcome of the battle or the war, and his force would have been annihilated by Halsey's aircraft before they could have escaped. Although he later blamed exhaustion for his decision, it is almost certain that Kurita knew from the outset that his mission was doomed. His decision to withdraw ultimately probably saved over 10,000 Japanese lives, for which he was never given any credit.
For a relatively short synopsis of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, please see attachment H-038-1. For a more complete discussion of the battle, please see attachment H-038-2 As always select the Director's corner below to see all the H-Grams. If you are a student of History or are just interested then these H-Grams are superb and bring to life items that have never been discussed before. We learn about the heroics of men we never heard about and it keeps their acts alive for us to marvel at their heroics and sacrifice. Additionally, The Bear's (Admiral Taylor) Rolling Thunder and Commando Hunt series provides day by day and week by week history of the air war in Vietnam. With our thanks to THE BEAR at www.rollingthunderremembered.com
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here is a link to the H-gram page: H-Grams (navy.mil)
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The Battle of Tarawa
(Nov. 17, 2023) The Battle of Tarawa occurred over the four-day period of Nov. 20-23, 1943 as the result of the first U.S. naval offensive in the Central Pacific Ocean. It also marked the first time that U.S. Marines faced heavy Japanese resistance to an amphibious landing.
In early 1943, Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his Southwest Pacific Area forces were pushing northwest from New Guinea-New Britain toward the Philippines. The U.S. high command realized, however, that another front had to be opened, first, to mount a successful invasion of the Japanese homeland, and second, to prevent another attack against the Hawaiian Islands.
The new front would be located in the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean known as Micronesia ("many islands"). Although the six-month fighting in Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands had been a defeat for the enemy, the Japanese fleet was no longer tied down and could roam freely.
Japan still controlled a wide swath of the Pacific, including the Micronesian island groups known as the Gilberts, Marshalls, Carolines, and Marianas. The Gilberts and Marshalls lay roughly 2,400 miles southwest of the Hawaiian Islands and 1,000 miles to the southeast of the Carolines. To the north of the Carolines were the Marianas, including Saipan and Tinian, which were not to be taken until June 1944 after fierce fighting.
The main Japanese fleet was based at Truk in the Carolines. The Japanese had also constructed a series of air bases on smaller islands throughout the area. Any further allied amphibious operations from the Philippines toward Japan would be subject to enemy naval attack from those islands. Moreover, allied aerial support for an invasion ultimately to be made against the Japanese homeland would require land bases.
Adm. Chester Nimitz, head of the Central Pacific Force (later called the "Fifth Fleet"), designated his chief of staff, Rear Adm. Raymond Spruance, to begin the planning. Because the Marshalls were heavily defended, the more vulnerable Gilberts located to the south were chosen as the first target.
They would also prepare the relatively inexperienced Marines for the tougher battles ahead, and once taken, they could provide air bases and fleet anchorages for the invasion of the Marshalls. Reconnoitering of Tarawa began a year in advance of the contemplated invasion with aerial and submarine photography, which later proved to be inadequate. The Japanese had anticipated the attack and, with the help of forced Korean labor, had been preparing the island's defenses for over a year.
The Gilberts consisted of 13 to 16 atolls spread out over an area as large as Texas, with the largest being Tarawa. They were discovered by the Portuguese in 1606 and later named in 1788 after Thomas Gilbert, the master of an East Indiaman, which was a large sailing vessel of that era.
Until December 1941 when they were seized by the Japanese, the Gilberts had been under the control of Great Britain. Some 50 years earlier, Robert Louis Stevenson had resided there and described them in his book "In the South Seas."
In November 1943, "Operation Galvanic" commenced and was commanded by newly promoted Vice Adm. Spruance aboard his flagship, the heavy cruiser Indianapolis.
According to naval doctrine, a flagship must be fast enough to keep pace with the aircraft carriers of the fleet. It must be able to operate without escorts. It must be powerful enough to defend itself, travel long distances without refueling, and have ample communications.
A brand-new battleship would have fit the bill, but Spruance also knew that a flagship must get close enough to an enemy island in order to view the landings, thus making it susceptible to enemy gunfire and therefore expendable. The U.S. Navy could not afford to lose a battleship in battle, so Spruance chose the 12-year-old Indianapolis as his flagship (My father was a naval aviator aboard at the time and also a good card player. Adm. Spruance occasionally invited him to his bridge table, but I digress.)
Betio Island on the southwest corner of the atoll was the targeted invasion point at Tarawa because it had a finished airstrip. Lying 80 miles north of the Equator, it comprised 290 acres and was two miles long and a half-mile wide.
A week of heavy naval gunfire and aerial bombardment proved largely ineffective. The Marines landed, and Betio became the scene of ferocious fighting over the four-day period. Col. David M. Shoup oversaw the landings and, for his bravery, was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 1960, he became the 22nd Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. Marine Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, Jr., was killed on Tarawa and was posthumously awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor in 1947 for his bravery.
Samuel Eliot Morison in Volume VII of his "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II" stated that when the 76-hour battle had concluded 4,700 Japanese soldiers were dead, while U.S. deaths totaled 1,001 and those wounded in action totaled 2,101.
Another commentator wrote that as many Marines were killed-in-action during the 76 hours of Tarawa as were killed over a six-month period on Guadalcanal the year before. Because the casualties were so high, some uninformed critics likened the landing on Tarawa to the Charge of the Light Brigade in the 1854 Crimean War, but they failed to recognize the strategic importance of capturing the Gilberts before the Marshalls.
Why were the casualties so high? First, as expected, the Japanese fought to the death; few surrendered. Second, the island had the most heavily fortified defenses yet encountered in the war. Enemy gun positions were no more than 300 yards from the landing beach. The Marines were pinned down for hours. Yard for yard, it was said that the resistance proved to be heavier than that encountered on Iwo Jima in 1945.
Third, massive U.S. bombardment preceding the landing had proven largely ineffective because the enemy was so well dug-in with pillboxes, bunkers, trenches, barbed wire, coconut log walls, and bombproof shelters. Close-range naval gunfire was also ineffective because of its trajectory over a low-lying, flat island.
Fourth, heavy sea turbulence delayed the transfer of Marines from the offshore ships to the landing craft, allowing Japanese gunners on the island to fire on them. Fifth, there were no tide tables for Betio, and unexpectedly low tides and sharp coral on the sea bottom hampered the first landings, leaving the already too few amphtrac landing craft exposed to enemy gunfire.
Many Marines had to wade ashore through chest-deep water. Portable radios became inoperative. Other Marines left their landing craft too soon and drowned in deeper water.
My father, LTJG Grade W. Newton Jackson Jr., aboard the Indianapolis played a peripheral role in the battle. His mission was to fly over Betio and locate Japanese troops and gun emplacements. His single-engine Kingfisher float plane would be catapulted off the Indianapolis to begin each flight.
Once completed, he would land next to the ship and be lifted up by a crane for debriefing and refueling. One day, after his last reconnaissance flight, he took off his parachute pack and found a Japanese bullet in it. He was not even aware that the enemy had shot at his plane. My mother later put the smashed bullet on a charm bracelet.
here is a link to the H-gram page: H-Grams (navy.mil)
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Another chapter for Shadow's book from my archives
Thanks to Shadow
Jim Lucas and I were in the office one day near Thanksgiving and I told Jim about this Thanksgiving story I had experienced in Vietnam… Jim suggested I write about it. I did and this is what I wrote. A year following it was published in "Leatherneck" magazine, November issue. As luck would have it, Frank Kennedy an A-4 Bubba was stationed at HQMC… I told Frank to check it out… Two days later, Frank calls back and says. "I found him"! I asked who he had found? He replied, "Your Buddy, Cortez DeLeon Stephens"! I said, "No shit, where is he"? He said, "Sitting right across from my desk… wanna talk to him"? "Oh hell yes"!
Turned out they worked in the same office. Steve had stayed in the Marine Corps and was about to retire as LtCol. This led to a reunion at the Globe and Laurel restaurant in Quantico, Virginia… we we'd all gone through OCS. Steve and his wife, Me and mine, Frank and his and my Secretary and her husband. Couldn't help but shed a few tears… so happy he had survived and had been treated so well by our country and Corps. I try to share this every Thanksgiving… a reminder that we all have so much to be thankful for.
God Bless, Shadow
VIETNAM THANKSGIVING
His name was "Cortez DeLeon Stephens"… we called him Steve. Half a world away, we shared a life in three short months. There has not been a Thanksgiving Day, since 1966 that I haven't thought of him… I often wondered if he remembered me.
We met at a small outpost, called Joliet… between Hue and Phu Bai, Vietnam. I was attached out from my normal unit and Steve was just back from the Hospital Ship Repose… where he was recovering from having his right index (trigger) finger blown off during a firefight… An easy ticket home… which he refused.
We were two young warriors--- Marines. It is hard to describe how different we were… yet how much in common we had. We were both college drop-outs. He, because of love gone bad… me because of youthful indifference. He was an Honor Student… I had made a habit of just getting by. I had graduated from a small rural high school in Mississippi… He was from the inner city of Philadelphia. Back then… Mississippi State and Temple University… were a galaxy apart. He played the French horn. I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket… But we both loved Motown Music… and Rhythm and Blues… Neither of us could dance… He was black, I was white.
During the long nights, that could seem endless (a lot of bad things happened at night over there), we talked constantly to each other. At that point in our young lives we both seemed to have a compulsive desire to find some meaning to it all. We not only shared our tent, we shared our lives. We talked of politics, romance, the war, religion and even racism. We talked of our families, our loves and our dreams. We were so different… but so much alike.
As young warriors do, we discussed our leaders… and we both decided that the one Staff NCO we'd follow to hell and back… was Gunnery Sgt. Willie Brown. He reminded us of a great African Warrior Chief… A man of regal deportment… And with a voice as authoritative and calm… as God's own. Our favorite officer was Capt. Dan McMahon… a leader of unlimited courage and ferocity in combat. We were so much alike.
Steve taught me a great deal about the human condition… To this very day, I have never forgotten my utter shame… and the humiliation I felt… when I repeated a racist joke I'd heard, to some other Marines… only to discover Steve was sitting right outside our hooch. That night he told me how much it hurt… but he would forgive me… "You still have a lot to learn white bread", he said. I've often wondered if the roles had been reversed… would I have been as gracious? So different--- On Thanksgiving Day we got word by radio that the Padre was being choppered out to give Communion… If… we got a break in the weather. About an hour later we heard the distinctive… whop-whop music… of inbound Hueys. Seconds later the radio squawked out that, "Dead Lock 20" was inbound with our Sky Pilot (Chaplin) and that they would return in exactly one hour to pick him up for the return to Phu Bai.
As the Padre and his assistant got out of the helo, we watched with knowledgeable concern… as we knew that any arrival of helos at this place… often precipitated the arrival of incoming mortar rounds. This time it didn't happen.
With what seemed like practiced efficiency… The Padre and his assistant selected a spot about 100 yards from our tent, to set up shop. An altar was quickly erected from empty 81mm ammo boxes. A crucifix and candles were set upon the holy drape. Then the word was passed that services were to begin shortly.
What followed was a scene so surreal and poignant… That it will haunt me the rest of my life.
Slowly, almost hesitantly they came… Young warriors in battle regalia of helmets and flack jackets… their rifles in hand. I swear with the low ceiling and mist… it was like a scene from some vague "B" movie… where the dead are awakened… and rise to walk from the graveyard. As they arrived in this small, dirty, yet holy place… The Padre ordered that they should stack arms, which was something we never did in the field (a placing of rifles together in a circle to resemble small tee-pees). As we watched… I was enthralled by the ritual of the Catholic ceremony… that was alien to me.
Warriors kneeling, helmets in hand, reciting in unison the responses to the Padre's incantations. The Padre was short, yet soothing… almost cryptic with his sermon. He then raised the call to Holy Communion and did something I had never seen before or sense. As the first communicant knelt in supplication… He raised his arms to this small congregation of less than 15 or 20… and asked that all sing "America the Beautiful" in honor of the day. As they began to sing… individuals would go forth and receive the sacraments. After which they retrieved their rifles and stood, waiting for the others.
As they neared the end of the hymn (it was a hymn that day)… We heard the deep muffled booms of artillery being fired from Phu Bai… followed by the unforgettable sound of artillery rounds going through the clouds overhead. As they impacted with their familiar carumph… the voices sang louder and stronger… "And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shinning sea".
As Father O'Massey invoked the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit… We heard the faint sound of the Hueys returning… and it began to rain… IT BEGAN TO RAIN! It was almost like the angels in heaven were crying for us all.
The vividness and power of what we were witnessing was like nothing I had experienced before. As my emotions started to welt up inside… I turned to look at Steve… and saw the tears… Quiet unabashed tears of fortitude… It will be forever… the Thanksgiving I most remember--- Damn… We were so much alike.
Over all these years, I have wondered what happened to Cortez DeLeon Stephens. We last saw one another in Dong Ha as I was going home. The last place I knew he was based was Quantico, Virginia… so I know he made it back. Every Thanksgiving I remember him in a small prayer and I hope… that this nation, this America… has been as kind and generous to him, as it has to me and so many others.
I wrote this on 2/28/93… I'd thought about it a million times before I sat down and wrote it… Why it took so long, I'll never know… But as a result of it… I found Steve. We had a joyful reunion and life has been good to him… He stayed in, got a commission and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. Has wonderful kids and by the way… He went home and married that sweetheart… who had initially spurned him and had caused him to run away and join the Corps so many years before. He was and is… a better man than me.
Shortly after all this… We moved to Phu Bai, just long enough to pack, go on a quick R&R and get ready to mount out for Okinawa… .… Shadow
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Thanks toDr. Rich
Thanks to Buzz ...
Today's Bible Lesson is taken from the Book of Schmendrick (Old Testament)
In ancient Israel, it came to pass that a trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a young wife by the name of Dorothy. And Dot Com was a comely woman, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com.
And she said unto Abraham, her husband, "Why dost thou travel so far from town to town with thy goods when thou canst trade without ever leaving thy tent?" And Abraham did look at her as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load, but simply said, "How, dear?"
And Dot replied, "I will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send messages saying what you have for sale, and they will reply telling you who hath the best price. The sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah's Pony Stable (UPS)."
Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with the drums. And the drums rang out and were an immediate success. Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever having to move from his tent.
To prevent neighbouring countries from overhearing what the drums were saying, Dot devised a system that only she and the drummers knew. It was known as Must Send Drum Over Sound (MSDOS), and she also developed a language to transmit ideas and pictures - Hebrew To The People (HTTP).
And the young men did take to Dot Com's trading as doth the greedy horsefly take to camel dung.
They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Sybarites, or NERDS.
And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the deafening sound of drums that no one noticed that the real riches were going to that enterprising drum dealer, Brother William of Gates, who bought off every drum maker in the land. Indeed, he did insist on drums to be made that would work only with Brother Gates' drumheads and drumsticks.
And Dot did say, "Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken over by others." And Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel, or eBay as it came to be known.
He said, "We need a name that reflects what we are.
And Dot replied, "Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators." "YAHOO," said Abraham.
And because it was Dot's idea, they named it YAHOO Dot Com.
Abraham's cousin, Joshua, being the young Gregarious Energetic Educated Kid (GEEK) that he was, soon started using Dot's drums to locate things around the countryside. It soon became known as God's Own Official Guide to Locating Everything (GOOGLE).
That is how it all began.
Now you know.
And that's the truth....
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Lest we forget.
EAGLE
I still have an original pair of Brown Flight boots that I wear every year on Memorial day on the USS Midway….skip
There was a grave site on the Navy school site on Point Loma where a couple of pairs of brown shoes were once buried with an appropriate head stone.
The Naval Aviator Brown Shoes Project
Whence the Term Naval Aviator "Brown Shoes"
From LCDR William L. Estes, USN (Ret.) in a letter to Pat Francis
Naval aviation officially began 08 May 1911 with the first order of a "Flying Machine" from the Wright Brothers. This purchase also included aeronautical training of naval personnel who would become the first naval flying instructors who would be the founders in spearheading Naval aviation as we know it today.
To train these future naval aeronautical aviators in the Wright Brother's flying machine, Rockwell Field (the first Army airfield in the United States, located on the north island of the island chain in San Diego), was selected and jointly shared with the Navy as the most suitable airfield site. In October 1935, Rockwell Field was transferred to the Navy by presidential executive order of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The last Army units departed in 1939. Later, the Army Corps of Engineers was commissioned to dredge the channel and fill the low areas, leveling the island chain, thus the name "North Island" emerged as Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California.
Six commission officers were selected from the surface fleet as the first student Naval aviation aviator trainees to be trained by these naval flight instructors.
These pioneer aviator trainees coming from the surface fleet wore uniform low quarter, square toed, black rough out leather shoes which served best on the coal burning ships commonly consumed by soot from the ships stacks.
Arriving for duty at the North Island AirField for training flights, the six students experienced a foreign environment of dust on the soft surface air field. They found themselves being constantly required to remove the dust from their black shoes which was irritating causing them to look for alternatives to this nuisance.
In the midst of their training while often times funding their own petrol expenses, the six discussed alternatives to their problem deciding that brown shoes might serve best to solve their problem with seniors who were putting what they felt was too much into uniform appearance. With that, all six decided that brown high top shoes with brown leggings was their solution. On a Saturday morning, the six located a cobbler shop on 32nd Street in San Diego, California whom they commissioned to produce same at a time and price they could live with.
Upon taking custody of their prize a short time later, the test of practical use of their new Brown Shoes and acceptance from their senior cadre members became a function of time.
Within a few days, the practicality of the Shoes of Brown proved to be an acceptable solution to the student aviators. The six then met to discuss how to bring about change of the uniform regulation to include the Brown Shoes and high top leggings as distinctive part of the aviator's permanent uniform.
With some discussion on how to approach their proposal, they concluded that a petition to bring about change for a distinctive aviator's uniform would best serve their plight.
A few days later, they met to compose a petition which would later be approved and endorsed by their seniors and forwarded to the Navy Bureau for consideration.
On 13 November 1913, the Navy Bureau signed approval to the uniform regulations to include The Shoes of Brown with Brown high top leggings as part of the permanent uniform for Naval Aerial Aviators.
This change carried itself through World War II to 1944 while logistically, the brown shoes were not in production due to priority war efforts. However, in stock supply would be issued and the wearing of same was still authorized. At the end of the war in 1945, production of brown shoes was again continued and issued until July 1976.
Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Jr., USN, was a two term CNO from 01 Jul 1970 to 01 Jul 1974. An Admiral from the surface navy (Black Shoe) had a desire for significant change within the Navy and its policies. With that, one of his initiatives was to end an era of Naval Aviation with the removal of the Brown Shoes from the Navy.
With the stage set, at 0000, 01 July 1976, the CNO, by instruction to Naval Uniform Department of NMPC, ended an era in tradition of naval aviation distinction and pride. "A Naval Aviation tradition came to an end when Brown Shoes were stricken from the Officer's and Chief's uniforms. The tradition distinguished the Brown Shoe Navy of the Aviators from the Black Shoes of the Surface Officers."
In September 1979, I was assigned to TRARON Ten as a T-2B/C Buckeye flight instructor (The Dirty 100) at NAS Pensacola, Florida. With my keen interest in history, I began initiatives to resurrect The Shoes of Brown as part of the permanent uniform for Naval Aviation in the same spirit as those in lead who first set the initiative.
With several cross country flights to the Naval Archives at NMPC in Washington DC, I researched for the original aviators petition in an effort to author, in kind, the same which would be reborn at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, the Cradle of Naval Aviation.
Receptive and in support of the Brown Shoes initiatives, Captain Jude J. Lahr, USN, Commodore, Training Air Wing 6, gave the "Thumbs Up with a Sierra Hotel" for same.
With that, I drafted a petition which was headed by and reads: "RESURRECTION OF THE BROWN SHOES – WHEREAS, In the course of history of Naval Aviation, the "SHOES OF BROWN", first adopted in November 1913, have held a position of revered, cherished esteem in the hearts of all those associated with Naval Air, second only to the "WINGS OF GOLD", and – WHEREAS, in the course of human events it becomes necessary to recognize an overwhelming desire to return the esprit of heritage amongst the cadre of AIRDALES, now – THEREFORE, let the feelings be known that we the undersigned, all duly designated NAVAL AVIATORS, NAVAL FLIGHT OFFICERS, FLIGHT SURGEONS and FLIGHT PHYSIOLOGIST, do hereby affix our signatures and designators to this petition calling for the immediate change to the Naval Uniform Regulations which would allow the "SHOES OF BROWN" to once again take their rightful position below the "WINGS OF GOLD. "
The first and most fitting to sign was Captain Jude J. Lahr, USN followed by senior CNET cadre members to include Captain Robert L. Rasmussen, USN, parent Command¬ing Officers (NASP, NASC, NAMI, NAMRL) and other command seniors, mid-grades and juniors alike and was unanimously received and signed as presented.
Numerous requests from commands throughout the United States, foreign ashore activities and carriers on the line requested the petition be sent them for signing via telephone, message and post mail.
Upon completion of my shore tour, I was then assigned to USS MIDWAY (CV-41). I continued initiatives with the Brown Shoes petition after receiving a "SH" approval from Commanding Officer, Captain Charles R. McGrail, Jr., USN. After an overwhelming receptive Carrier Air Wing 5 and ships company cadre, Captain McGrail later signed out the petition in Red with "forwarded Most Strongly Recommending Approval" to the CNO/NMPC on commands letterhead stationary with a personal note.
Following my 2.5 year Midway tour, I returned to Training Air Wing 6 as a T-2C Buckeye flight instructor with TRARON Ten. On the morning of 12 Sep 85, while airborne on a APM/Spin Hop with a student, I received a UHF radio call from the squadron duty officer (SDO) to "BUSTER" return to base with no explanation. On return to squadron spaces to meet with the SDO, the Skipper escorted me to his office where he moments later received a telephone call from SECNAV, The Honorable John F. Lehman, Jr. (a Tailhooker himself) who congratulated me as being the spearhead in Resurrecting the Brown Shoes back to the "AIRDALES" of U. S. Naval Aviation. SECNAV Lehman informed me that he was going to announce that month, the return of the Brown Shoes at the 1985 TAILHOOK Convention and that he wanted to personally authorize me to be The First to wear the "Coveted Shoes of Brown" before his announcement.
*When you fight with the spirit, the sword will follow*
https://thebrownshoes.org/whence-term-brown-shoes
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THANKS TO Interesting Facts
When I was young and moving about every 18 months with my Air force we ended up living in all four corners of the country and in the Middle at Salina Kansas (The base was called Smokey Hill but everyone called it Smokey Hole….It later got changed to Shilling)….skip
The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is a field in Kansas.
Many states consider themselves the heartland of America, but where exactly is the geographic center of the U.S.? If you're including only the lower 48 states, look no further than a nondescript field north of Lebanon, Kansas (located at 39° 50' 00" N 98° 35' 00" W). Not much marks this otherwise typical stretch of Midwestern farmland, except for a nearby historical marker noting that the location was determined by the U.S. Geological Survey, and that the point is "where a plane map of the 48 states would balance if it were of uniform thickness." In earlier times, this accolade garnered enough tourists for a motel to be built nearby, selling souvenirs and a night's rest at the center of the country. While the souvenirs remain (in downtown Lebanon), the motel has since closed up shop.
Of course, this isn't the center of the entire U.S., which drastically stretched its borders when it welcomed Alaska and Hawaii into the union at the end of the 1950s. In 1959, a U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey concluded that the new center of the U.S. (excluding territories) had lurched northwest toward the small town of Belle Fourche, South Dakota, which today posts a similar plaque regarding its centralized status. How long Belle Fourche keeps its title remains to be seen, as many contenders to be the 51st state — whether Puerto Rico, Guam, or some other territory — could once again relocate the bullseye of the U.S.
Kansas is named after the Kansa tribe, whose name means "wind people."
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This Day in U S Military History…..November 25
1758 – In the French and Indian War, the British captured Fort Duquesne in present-day Pittsburgh. On November 24, the French commander recognized that he faced total disaster if he were to resist. Under the cover of night, the French withdrew from Fort Duquesne, set it afire and floated down the Ohio River to safety. The British claimed the smoldering remains on November 25 and were horrified to finds the heads of some of Grant's Highlanders impaled on stakes with their kilts displayed below.
1783 – Nearly three months after the Treaty of Paris was signed ending the American Revolution, the last British soldiers withdraw from New York City, their last military position in the United States. After the last Red Coat departed New York, Patriot General George Washington entered the city in triumph to the cheers of New Yorkers. The city was captured by the British in September 1776 and remained in their hands until 1783. Four months after New York was returned to the victorious Patriots, the city was declared to be the capital of the United States. It was the site in 1789 of Washington's inauguration as the first U.S. president and remained the nation's capital until 1790, when Philadelphia became the second capital of the United States under the U.S. Constitution.
1863 – Union General Ulysses S. Grant breaks the siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in stunning fashion by routing the Confederates under General Braxton Bragg at Missionary Ridge. For two months since the Battle of Chattanooga, the Confederates had kept the Union army bottled up inside of a tight semicircle around Chattanooga. When Grant arrived in October, however, he immediately reversed the defensive posture of his army. After opening a supply line by driving the Confederates away from the Tennessee River in late October, Grant prepared for a major offensive in late November. It was launched on November 23 when Grant sent General George Thomas to probe the center of the Confederate line. Stunningly, this simple plan turned into a complete victory, and the Rebels retreated higher up Missionary Ridge. On November 24, the Yankees captured Lookout Mountain on the extreme right of the Union lines, and this set the stage for the Battle of Missionary Ridge.The attack took place in three parts. On the Union left, General William T. Sherman attacked troops under Patrick Cleburne at Tunnel Hill, an extension of Missionary Ridge. In difficult fighting, Cleburne managed to hold the hill. On the other end of the Union lines, General Joseph Hooker was advancing slowly from Lookout Mountain, and his force had little impact on the battle. It was at the center that the Union achieved its greatest success. The soldiers on both sides received confusing orders. Some Union troops thought they were only supposed to take the rifle pits at the base of the ridge, while others understood that they were to advance to the top. Some of the Confederates heard that they were to hold the pits, while others thought that they were to retreat to the top of Missionary Ridge. Furthermore, poor placement of Confederate trenches on the top of the ridge made it difficult to fire at the advancing Union troops without hitting their own men, who were retreating from the rifle pits. The result was that the attack on the Confederate center turned into a major Union victory. After the center collapsed, the Confederate troops retreated on November 26, and Bragg pulled his troops away from Chattanooga. He resigned shortly thereafter, having lost the confidence of his army. The Confederates suffered 6,687 men killed, wounded, and missing, and the Union lost 5,824. Grant missed an opportunity to destroy the Confederate army when he chose not to pursue the retreating Rebels, but Chattanooga was secured. Sherman resumed the attack in the spring after Grant was promoted to general in chief of all Federal forces.
1867 – Alfred Nobel patented dynamite. In 1863, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel invented the Nobel patent detonator (later used with dynamite) which detonated nitroglycerin (invented by Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero in 1846) using a strong shock rather than heat combustion. In 1865, the Nobel Company built the first factory for producing nitroglycerin and later dynamite. Nitroglycerin in its natural liquid state is very volatile. Albert Nobel recognized this, and in 1866 he discovered that mixing nitroglycerine with silica would turn the liquid into a malleable paste (dynamite), which could be cylinder shaped for insertion into the drilling holes used for mining. In 1867, Albert Nobel patented this material under the name of dynamite – U.S. patent 78,317. To be able to detonate the dynamite rods he also invented a detonator or blasting cap that was ignited by lighting a fuse.
1940 – First flight of the Martin B-26 Marauder. The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engined medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe. After entering service with the U.S. Army, the aircraft received the reputation of a "Widowmaker" due to the early models' high rate of accidents during takeoff and landings. The Marauder had to be flown at exact airspeeds, particularly on final runway approach and when one engine was out. The 150 mph (241 km/h) speed on short final runway approach was intimidating to pilots who were used to much slower speeds, and whenever they slowed down below what the manual stated, the aircraft would stall and crash. The B-26 became a safer aircraft once crews were re-trained, and after aerodynamics modifications (an increase of wingspan and wing angle-of-incidence to give better takeoff performance, and a larger vertical stabilizer and rudder). After aerodynamic and design changes, the aircraft distinguished itself as "the chief bombardment weapon on the Western Front" according to a United States Army Air Forces dispatch from 1946. The Marauder ended World War II with the lowest loss rate of any USAAF bomber. A total of 5,288 were produced between February 1941 and March 1945; 522 of these were flown by the Royal Air Force and the South African Air Force. By the time the United States Air Force was created as an independent service separate from the Army in 1947, all Martin B-26s had been retired from US service. The Douglas A-26 Invader then assumed the B-26 designation — before officially returning to the earlier "A for Attack" designation in May 1966.
1941 – Adm. Harold R. Stark, U.S. chief of naval operations, tells Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, that both President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull think a Japanese surprise attack is a distinct possibility. "We are likely to be attacked next Monday, for the Japs are notorious for attacking without warning," Roosevelt had informed his Cabinet. "We must all prepare for trouble, possibly soon," he telegraphed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Kimmel's command was specifically at the mid-Pacific base at Oahu, which comprised, in part, Pearl Harbor. At the time he received the "warning" from Stark, he was negotiating with Army Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short, commander of all U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor, about sending U.S. warships out from Pearl Harbor in order to reinforce Wake and Midway Islands, which, along with the Philippines, were possible Japanese targets. But the Army had no antiaircraft artillery to spare. War worries had struck because of an intercepted Japanese diplomatic message, which gave November 25 as a deadline of sorts. If Japanese diplomacy had failed to convince the Americans to revoke the economic sanctions against Japan, "things will automatically begin to happen," the message related. Those "things" were becoming obvious, in the form of Japanese troop movements off Formosa (Taiwan) apparently toward Malaya. In fact, they were headed for Pearl Harbor, as was the Japanese First Air Fleet. Despite the fact that so many in positions of command anticipated a Japanese attack, especially given the failure of diplomacy (Japan refused U.S. demands to withdraw from both the Axis pact and occupied territories in China and Indochina), no one expected Hawaii as the target.
2001 – Qala-i-Jangi revolt. Taliban fighters were being herded, as captured or surrendered, into the Qala-i-Jangi fortress near Mazar-I-Sharif, a few Taliban attacked some Northern Alliance guards, taking their weapons and opening fire. This incident soon triggered a widespread revolt by 300 prisoners, who soon seized the southern half of the complex, once a medieval fortress, including an armory stocked with small arms and crew-served weapons. One American CIA operative who had been interrogating prisoners, Johnny Michael Spann, was killed, marking the first American combat death in the war. The revolt was finally put down after seven days of heavy fighting. AC-130 gunships and other aircraft took part providing strafing fire on several occasions, as well as a bombing airstrikes. 86 of the Taliban prisoners survived, and around 50 Northern Alliance soldiers were killed. The quashing of the revolt marked the end of the combat in northern Afghanistan, where local Northern Alliance warlords were now firmly in control.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
REED, AXEL H.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company K, 2d Minnesota Infantry. Place and date: At Chickamauga, Ga., 19 September 1863; At Missionary Ridge, Tenn., 25 November 1863. Entered service at: Glencoe, Minn. Birth: Maine. Date of issue: 2 April 1898. Citation: While in arrest at Chickamauga, Ga., left his place in the rear and voluntarily went to the line of battle, secured a rifle, and fought gallantly during the 2_day battle; was released from arrest in recognition of his bravery. At Missionary Ridge commanded his company and gallantly led it, being among the first to enter the enemy's works; was severely wounded, losing an arm, but declined a discharge and remained in active service to the end of the war.
SCHMIDT, WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 37th Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Missionary Ridge, Tenn., 25 November 1863. Entered service at: Maumee, Ohio. Birth: Tiffin, Ohio. Date of issue: 9 November 1895. Citation. Rescued a wounded comrade under terrific fire.
SHALER, ALEXANDER
Rank and organization: Colonel, 65th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Marye's Heights, Va., 3 May 1863. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Born: 19 March 1827, Haddam, Conn. Date of issue 25 November 1893. Citation: At a most critical moment, the head of the charging column being about to be crushed by the severe fire of the enemy's artillery and infantry, he pushed forward with a supporting column, pierced the enemy's works, and turned their flank.
WALKER, JAMES C.
Rank and organization: Private, Company K, 31st Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Missionary Ridge, Tenn., 25 November 1863. Entered service at: Springfield, Ohio. Birth: Clark County, Ohio. Date of issue: 25 November 1895. Citation: After 2 color bearers had fallen, seized the flag and carried it forward, assisting in the capture of a battery. Shortly thereafter he captured the flag of the 41st Alabama and the color bearer.
FORSYTH, THOMAS H.
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company M, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Powder River, Wyo., 25 November 1876. Entered service at:——. Birth: Hartford, Conn. Date of issue: 14 July 1891. Citation: Though dangerously wounded, he maintained his ground with a small party against a largely superior force after his commanding officer had been shot down during a sudden attack and rescued that officer and a comrade from the enemy.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for November 25, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
25 November
1918: The NC-1 flying boat set a world record by taking off from NAS Rockaway Beach, New York, with 51 persons. (24)
1920: Lt Corliss C. Moseley flew a Verville-Packard 600 132 miles at 156.54 MPH to win the first Pulitzer Race at Mitchel Field. Moseley later founded Western Air Express (later Western Airlines) to carry airmail. (24)
1940: NACA announced plans to build an $8.4 million engine research laboratory at the Cleveland Municipal Airport in Ohio. It became the Lewis Research Center. (8: Nov 90) First flight of the Martin B-26 Marauder.
1943: P-47 Thunderbolts from VIII Fighter Command inaugurated bombing in an attack on Saint-Omer Airfield, France. (4) From bases in China, B-25s, P-38s, and P-51s completed the first Fourteenth Air Force mission against Formosa. (24)
1945: Through 30 November, Col Joseph Holzapple flew a Douglas A-26 Invader around the world in 96 hours 50 minutes of flying time. His crew included Lt Col Charles R. Meyers (co-pilot), Lt Otto H. Schumacher (navigator), and Cpl Howard J Walden (radio operator). They headed westward from Savannah, Ga. Four days and 24,859 miles later, they returned to Washington DC after successfully circumnavigating the earth, thus demonstrating the ability of US light bombers to reach any point in the world quickly. (5) (http://www.wingnet.org/rtw/rtw013.htm)
1956: TSgt Richard J. Patton made the first successful polar parachute jump when he bailed out of a C-124 Globemaster from 1,500 feet at the South Pole. (24)
1957: SAC phased out its KB-29 tankers by transferrring the last two KB-29s from the 27 AREFW at Bergstrom AFB to the aircraft storage area at Davis-Monthan AFB. (1)
1970: Bill Dana flew the M2-F3 Lifting Body on its first powered flight at Edwards AFB. (3)
1980: Through 29 November, MAC units delivered 1,305 tons of fire retardant chemicals to battle 11 major fires in four counties east of Los Angeles. (16) (26) The 26th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor Squadron flew its final T-38 Talon sortie. The ATC replaced the squadron's four Talons with F-5E and F-5F aircraft. (26)
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